Brendan Ogle lodges defamation proceedings against Unite trade union
Brendan Ogle has been in dispute with senior management since he returned to work last year after treatment for cancer. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins
One of the country’s best known trade unionists has lodged defamation proceedings against the UK-based leaders of his union.
Brendan Ogle, a senior officer in Unite the Union, has issued the High Court proceedings against the general secretary of the union Sharon Graham, and senior executive Tony Woodhouse.
The defamation which is the subject of the proceedings was alleged to have occurred in Malahide last year at the party’s Irish annual congress and at a meeting of Unite delegates at the Gresham Hotel earlier this year.
Ms Graham addressed the gathering at the former event and Mr Woodhouse at the Gresham. The allegations on both occasions are understood to revolve around comments about Mr Ogle, who has been in dispute with senior management since he returned to work last year after treatment for cancer.
Mr Ogle has claimed he was frozen out of his former position as senior officer in Ireland for the union on his return. The union strenuously denies any such action.
Mr Ogle also claims the actions taken against him followed his lodging of a protected disclosure around covid protocols during the pandemic.
Earlier this year, he lodged a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission over “mistreatment and penalisation” he claims to have suffered as a result of making the disclosure. The union has stated there is no substance to this allegation.
The plenary summons for the defamation action was submitted last Friday and a defence is expected to be lodged in the coming weeks. When contacted, Mr Ogle said he had nothing to say on the matter.
Last year, the reported on the rift between Mr Ogle and his employer which came to the surface after he returned to work from his illness.
He retained his job title and pay in Unite, but he claimed he had been frozen out in other aspects of his work. His wife, Mandy LaCombre, who also works in industrial relations, posted on Facebook that he was being frozen out.
“This is clearly a deliberate exercise in isolating him from any of his normal union duties and an attempt to keep him away from others in Unite who respect him, and are wondering where he is now that he has returned [to work],” she posted.
At the time, Unite denied there was any substance to these allegations.
Mr Ogle has been a leading figure in the trade union movement for more than 20 years since he was general secretary of the Irish Locomotive Drivers Association, where he organised a rail strike in 2000. He was also the head of the ESB group of unions prior to joining Unite.
